Anyone use 100% perlite in RDWC?

JohnnySocko

JohnnySocko

Active Member
Maybe this should go in the DWC section but also was curious if anyone uses perlite 100%

Reason I'm asking is I'm getting a lil paranoid over my hydroton acting as a vector for pythium even after soaks in STRONG beach and/or Pottasium permangante solutions (PP 1st THEN bleach) ...I let it dry 100% then recylce it...

But anymore I'm thinking I might switch to disposable perlite
...thing is dealing with the particulates & dust and prventing it from slipping through the net pots...
...anyone use this stuff in a DWC and if so, how do you deal with it (I just got a lrg bag of the coarse stuff)
 
JohnDee

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
Hi Johnny,
Why not just use new hydroton? Your net pots don't hold that much, and the stuff is pretty cheap. Then you won't have to deal with the small perlite chunks.
JD
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
i have used perlite 100% but not in DWC, it is just a top feeding system. i however don't agree with worries about pythium being promoted by the rocks. on the contrary, i find growrocks to be a very healthy medium for plants to live in, all my flowering plants are in growrocks and i used perlite only for trial, and concluded that it is good for keeping mother plants for long durations because they don't dry out as quickly as growrocks but are a pain to deal with because they stick to everything and crush, very messy, not easy to recycle, so not really my choice for flowering. if you're really that paranoid, you can throw those rocks in the over at 200C for 30 minutes, i just use some H2O2 and grow on. i even leave roothair residue in from previous grows, never have problems.
 
I

ilikecheetoes

Well-Known Member
i use straight perlite in ebb/flow. hydroton sucks ass. dirty, heavy and rolls all over the place. Perlite is light even when its wet. it doesnt scream, hey i grow pot when you see it. its way cheaper. I dont see why anyone uses hydroton for anything unless they just like the reddish stains on everything.
 
JohnnySocko

JohnnySocko

Active Member
JohnDee said:
Hi Johnny,
Why not just use new hydroton? Your net pots don't hold that much, and the stuff is pretty cheap. Then you won't have to deal with the small perlite chunks.
JD
Click to expand...
yeah I use the 5" pots, so multiply that x 6 pot x 2-3 grows/yr might be relatively cheap just to dispose of it...

zem said:
i have used perlite 100% but not in DWC, it is just a top feeding system. i however don't agree with worries about pythium being promoted by the rocks. on the contrary, i find growrocks to be a very healthy medium for plants to live in, all my flowering plants are in growrocks and i used perlite only for trial, and concluded that it is good for keeping mother plants for long durations because they don't dry out as quickly as growrocks but are a pain to deal with because they stick to everything and crush, very messy, not easy to recycle, so not really my choice for flowering. if you're really that paranoid, you can throw those rocks in the over at 200C for 30 minutes, i just use some H2O2 and grow on. i even leave roothair residue in from previous grows, never have problems.
Click to expand...
something is causing the crap to re-infest .... I clean and I mean I CLEAN everything! bleach, physan, potassium permanganate, et (I use all three depending...) wish I knew what the vector is/was....I'm wondering if its just in my tap water; they say its everywhere...


ilikecheetoes said:
i use straight perlite in ebb/flow. hydroton sucks ass. dirty, heavy and rolls all over the place. Perlite is light even when its wet. it doesnt scream, hey i grow pot when you see it. its way cheaper. I dont see why anyone uses hydroton for anything unless they just like the reddish stains on everything.
Click to expand...
I got a huge bag for future mother plants in hempy's....it occurred to me that it might be possible to use in a recirculating system.... hydroton is sorta less problematic from a size/cleanup pov...but I dunno ...I've never used perlite in practice other than as a mix for soil or starting seeds or hempy's
 
MikeGanja

MikeGanja

Well-Known Member
Hi JohnnySocko,
Last year I did some experiments with Perlite in:
perlite/soilmix + autopots,
perlite/coco+autopots,
100% Perlite as a reolacement for hydroton in a dripsystem,
and finally Perlite in the netpot that goes with the DWC.

I do not like the dust that commes with the Perlite. You could wet it when filling your pots so it can't fly around everywhere. I found that the Perlite is great when you mix it with soil or cocos and grow in autopots but not for in active recirculating systems. Large particles of Perlite floats in your reservoir and the smaller ones get stuck in your filters. If I ever use Perlite again I will try this metod with filter bags: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A
 
NeWcS

NeWcS

Well-Known Member
I have never done it but I would have to think it would work a lot better if you use chunky perlite. You could always try Growstones and/or lava rocks.
 
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